Shay Mitchell

Shay Mitchell Biography

Shay Mitchell, born Shannon Mitchell to a Filipino mother and Irish/Scottish father, is a native of Toronto, Canada. Even as a young child, she was interested in the performing arts, declaring to her parents that she would pursue such a career. Shay began dance lessons at the age of five, and she and several of her classmates toured the city to compete with a variety of other dance schools. At the age of 10, Shays family moved west to Vancouver, British Columbia. Within a year of their arrival, an international modeling agency held an open casting call for teen and pre-teen girls who were vying for representation. Shay was one of the girls selected. By her late teens, Shay had successfully modeled for a variety of companies in cities as varied as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Barcelona. Wanting to focus on her true passion, Mitchell returned to Toronto and began to study acting with great focus and determination.

Shay Mitchell Trivia and Facts

In 2011, Shay made her debut "The 2011 AfterEllens Hot 100 List", coming in at #7.

Is best friends in real life with, Pretty Little Liars Co-star, Ashley Benson.

Mitchell is the national spokesperson for the Pantene Pro-V Nature Fusion collection and is an ambassador for the Somaly Mam Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on combating the global sex trade.

Shay Mitchell Quotes

I hate dieting. Lets just say that.

[on modeling] I did it from an early age. I started when I was like 15 and it allowed me to travel around the world. I got to go to some really cool jobs and live in different places. After I finished high school I went to Hong Kong and Thailand and spent some time there. Just to get that whole experience of being out of the bubble that I was in from high school in Vancouver, to be able to travel around and be on your own was an amazing experience. It really allowed me to see a lot of the world that I might not have seen that soon.

The craziest thing Ive done getting over love is skydiving. I had a really upsetting breakup. When I broke up with my boyfriend I needed to like do something different and so I actually went skydiving to turn over a new page. I dont know how I did that, but I did feel really good after doing it.I wanted to like do something Ive never done before on my own and I went sky diving. Thats kind of something that I did to get over love. It really made me feel a lot more confident that I could handle something that I was so scared to do on my own. Up until that point I had been in a relationship for a while. To be able to do something that is your ultimate fear, which for me was heights, and to be able to do it alone without that significant other beside you, was an amazing feeling. Im really happy that I did it. Yeah, it did help.